Improvement in beiok-maohines



PATENTED; le/DEC 101867u @citen tatcs' attut @fifth PETER v. WESTFALL,or KALAMAZOO, MGHIGAN.

Letters Patent No. 72,137, elated .December 10, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT IN BRIGKMAGHINES.

TO ALL WIIUM IT MAY CONCERN;

Be it known that I, PETER V. WESTFALL, of the city and county ofKalamazoo, in the State of Michigan,

have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines forMoulding Brick; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theannexed draw-v ings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a perspective view.

Figure 2 is a partial side elevation and longitudinal section.

Similar letters of reference indicate like parts in both figures.

My invention has relation to the` combined action of two recessedmoulding-cylinders, in connection with suitable modes of cleaning thesame and discharging the moulded bricks, at the discretion of theoperator.

To enable others skilled in such mechanism te construct properly myinvention, I `will now proceed to give a clear and sucient descriptionthereof.

Upon a suitable frame, A, I hang my two.moulding-cylinders, C C, which Iusually operate by means of a. toothed wheel, B, which is keyed on ashaft, D, which shaft carries at one4 end an owerhanging band-wheel, E,to receive the main driving-belt, and, at the other end, adriving-pulley, F, to give motion to an endless apron, G, which passesover drums H H, hung at each end of the frame, so as to properly receiveand convey the moulded brick, when they are discharged from thecylinders, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

I usually construct my moulding-cylinders (indicated by C C) of castmetal, in three parts, viz, the central portion, or body, which isequally divided into as many moulding-recesses or grooves, I, andintervening followerwings, J, as may be desirable, and two disk-heads,K1 and K2. I rabbet the inside corners of the two heads so as to form ashallow groove, when the heads are bolted on, for the purpose ofreceiving the hopper, (not shown,) and also form teeth around theperiphery of the' two heads K1 and K2, to gear with each other and withthe gear-wheel B.

Before the parts composing the moulding-cylinders are bolted together,they are planed, turned, and finished, with proper draught, in the usualand most approved manner. i i

The-mould-bottoms, seenV at a a, are fitted to work freely and snuglywithin the mould-space, being simply metal plates provided at each endwith a. guide-stem fitted to slide easily in radial slots, -s, in theheads, each t stem carrying an overhanging friction-roller, r, the useof which will be explained presently.

v The bricks are discharged successively from the moulds, as thecylinders revolve, by means of shifting cams, e, attached to shortjournals hung to the upper rail. The outer ends of said journal-shaftscarry each a short crank-arm, m, and when the cams on the inner side areset, a's seen in the drawing, the friction-rollersimpiuge on the lowerside of the cams, and thrust the connected mould-bottoms outwards,thereby discharging the bricks V successively on the endless. apron, butwhen the cams are shifted to the positions exhibited by-the dottedlines,

' the mould-bottoms will be free to return to their former position.

I operate these cams by Shifters on each side of the machine, eachcam-crank being connected by a rod, n, to opposite ends of a hand-lever,L, which is hung atits centre on a shaft, b, midway between Vthe saidcranks,4

insueh manner that, on whatever side of the machine the hand-lever maybe'turned, it will shift simultaneously all the four cams.

In this Inode of moniuingbricks between the recessed peripheries of twogeared revolving cylinders, the cylinders must, of course, be arrangedrelatively with each other with great exactness, so that, as thccylinders revolve, each follower, J', will come opposite its mould; andas the outer face of the brick receives its-form from the impact of thecurved face ofthe follower, I so hang and gear the cylinders, that thefollowers lock or gearinto their respective moulding-recesses a distanceequal'to the versed sine of the are subtended, as shownin the drawings,when, in accordance with a well-known mathematical law, the face ofthe.brick will be moulded, and pressed by the follower into the fdrm ofa true plane.

As it is necessary, in my mode of moulding brick, to ykeep thecylinder-faces scraped clean, as they passA the endless apron, I employwhatI term a vibrating-spring scraper, z', which is simply a strip'ofwood shaped to dt against the two cylinders at the apex of space, wherethev circumference lines join. A strip of wire cloth, u', equal in widthto the length of the brick to-be moulded, is passed over this scraper,and is hung at -each end, on a lateral rod, j, supported on standards, oo, attached4 to the lower'girt of the frame, or supported by the framein any other convenient way, so that it will be in close contact witheach cylinders periphery as far round as may be practicable, theapex-scraper andcentral part of the cloth being pressed upwards, inclose contact, by means of spiral springs, u, or any other springs,which will permit a slight longitudinal vibratory motion, produced bythe pressing and rubbing action of the followers as they pass over thenarrow space left between them and the moulded brick on either side; andto prei'ent catching, I round or chamfer the upper edge of the strip z',so that the edge of the follower will strike against the angle of suchround or chamfer, and cause the strip to yield. The springs v may beplaced around sliding guide-pins 22between the pins bearings and theapex strip, and I find the wire cloth operates best when thewires arewoven diagonally with the cylinders'v path of rotation.' K l Thecylinders C C are shown as open, but, while in, use, they' are closelyencased, excepting over the discharge point. A

'.ll'r'e tempered clay is conveyed in the usual mann er from thepug-mill to the hopper, from whence it descendsv and is deflectedlaterally, by means of ordinary knife-like partitions,.(set in thehopper at proper angles,) to the- Y moulds I, in the two revolvingcylinders. After a number of` revolutions, the moulds are Jfilled withvthe clay,

which is soon consolidated by the action of the followers J against it,aided by the supply of clay from the central section of the hopper,immediately over the line of-contaet. The operator then shifts the camse, discharging the moulded bricks, as aforesaid, on the endless apron,and immediately turns said cams back to their former position, when theprocess iss-repeated.

Having thusl fully described my improved brick-moulding machine, what Iclaim thereinas'my invention,V

and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination o f thetwo moulding-cylinders C C, when themoulding-recesses I I in said cylinders,

Aand their intermediate followers, J J, are so proportioned with eachother that the faces of said followers cannot be brought in contact witheach other, and when the said follower-picces have substantially thedegree lof curvature herein represented and described. I

2. In connection with the moulding-cylinders C C, I also claim thecentral shaft b and its operating levers L L, in combination withthejointed rods n n and the crank-arms m m, on the respectivecam-shafts, forloperating all the cams simultaneously, substantially inthe manner herein set forth.

3. I also claim the vibrating-spring scraper z', in combination with thewire-cloth belt w, when arranged:

with the moulding-cylinders C G, and operated substantially in themanner and for the purpose herein "set forth.

PETER V. WESTFALL.

Witnesses:

JAS. D. PORTER, OTTO L. JOHNSON.

